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Candace Calloway Whiting has studied and trained dolphins, seals, and orca whales. She is currently a volunteer at the Center for Whale Research at Friday Harbor.

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The Washington State Senate Race: When It Comes To The Orcas And Salmon, Senator Murray Wins.

When it comes to getting the politicians to say anything substantial about the really tough salmon issues, it is next to impossible to get much more than a stock version of “Thank you for bringing to our attention your concerns on this issue”, but at least Senator Patty Murray has a track record that shows she cares about both salmon and the larger marine environment. Dino Rossi, on the other hand, seems to think environmental issues are not important to the residents of the Evergreen State.

Wildsalmon.org has created this video which discusses the need to restore wild salmon, for us and for the orcas:

Although Senator Murray has not taken a strong position on the question of dams and salmon restoration, she has proven herself to be supportive of general environmental issues associated with salmon ecology:

Senator Murray has championed efforts to protect Washington’s unique open spaces. She has worked tirelessly to protect the Hanford Reach, the last wild stretch of the Columbia River and a critical salmon habitat, and is proud that, with her leadership, it now a National Monument. Senator Murray has also secured funding for the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center.

Recovering salmon is a challenge that is not limited to only one part of the state or one group of people. Senator Murray has worked to ensure that all of the stakeholders involved in this issue work together to implement a cooperative, comprehensive, statewide effort to recover wild salmon and she has continued to secure the funding needed to support these efforts. Each year, Senator Murray leads the effort to secure funding for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund. In FY09, Senator Murray secured $80 million in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for salmon recovery projects along the Pacific Coast.

Senator Murray reached across party lines to work with Congressman Jack Metcalf to create the Northwest Straits Commission in 1998. This effort has helped address the decline of the state’s northwest marine ecosystems by bringing representatives from county, tribal, state and federal governments, non-profit organizations and volunteers together to protect and restore marine resources in northern Puget Sound. Senator Murray has consistently secured funding for the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, with $1.6 million in FY09. Senator Murray also recently introduced legislation to reauthorize the Initiative.

(Washington D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she included $1.8 million for the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative in the Fiscal Year 2011 Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill that was approved today by the Appropriations Committee. The funding will help protect and restore marine waters, habitats and species at priority sites along the Northwest Straits, which run through Clallam, Island, Jefferson, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.

“The Northwest Straits Initiative continues to be a leading example of a successful, innovative, and grassroots conservation effort,” said Senator Patty Murray. “This investment will allow the group to continue their excellent research and expand upon their work restoring and conserving our marine environment.”

As far as the Rossi champagn is concerned, the information that I was able to find on salmon, marine quality, or anything remotely related to the environment from the Dino Rossi campaign website is negligible:

“……………………………………………”. As in nothing, nada, zip – the environment is not even an issue to Rossi as far as I can tell, unless his beliefs are reflected in these two tepid, limp sentences:

# Enhance safety procedures for any energy exploration, whether on land or off shore.
# Ensure polluters pay for any environmental degradation.

It sounds like Rossi would like to see more oil exploration – only make it safer (how?), and also he would wring money out of polluters (who?), but has no plan to restore the environment to health. Fining polluters is all well and good, but once the damage is done it can take generations to undo – generations of people who are willing to work on the problems and to force companies to comply with preventive measures.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..

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